Left-arm spinner George Dockrell has been named the captain of the national team for the Under-19 World Cup in Australia. Dockrell, who has 37 wickets from 30 ODI matches with the national senior team, said that Ireland is not going to be a “walkover” and hoped to put up a strong fight.
Ireland squad for U-19 World Cup
Squad: George Dockrell (captain), Scott Campbell, Peter Chase, Adam Coughlan, Shane Getkate, Ryan Hunter, Tyrone Kane, Robin Kelly, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, Barry McCarthy, Alistair Shields, Patrick Tice, Jason van der Merwe, Ben Wylie.
“There’s an expectation now surrounding Irish cricket as the senior side has done so well in previous World Cups with a number of big scalps and we’ll be attempting to emulate that success,” Dockrell said. “We haven’t beaten a major Test-playing nation yet at this level so we’d like to take the spirit and attitude of the senior squad into our cricket and hopefully get a major scalp at this tournament.
“On the other side of the coin, there’s a certain respect now when Irish cricket is mentioned. Teams know we won’t be a walkover and we’re going to give them a good fight. They know they’re going to have to be at their best as we can challenge them and potentially beat them.”
Ireland has been drawn into a tough group with hosts Australia, England, and Nepal. They play their opening game against England on August 12. Ireland finished tenth in the previous edition of the tournament in 2010.